With the digital age continuing to present challenges and opportunities, telecommunications giant Telkom on Wednesday reiterated its determination to transform broadband delivery in South Africa, starting with the public sector.

Telkom COO Brian Armstrong told delegates at the My Broadband Conference, in Midrand, that digitisation was no longer just about technology and broadband infrastructure, but was increasingly about the intersection of technology with society and ever-evolving business.

In line with this, the partially privatised telecommunications giant reiterated its commitment to extend its network backbone to bolster universal access, create seamless infrastructure and stimulate a knowledge economy by connecting all public sector institutions by 2020.

Telkom aimed to connect government’s 38 000 sites across South Africa to enable efficient public services and significantly improve broadband reach, with Telkom “working hard” to lead the broadband expansion across the nation.

The Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services (DTPS) was undertaking the Phase 1 implementation of South Africa (SA) Connect in eight districts over the next three years, with plans being finalised to expand broadband roll-out to the rest of the country starting next year.

Earlier this year, Telkom was designated the lead agency in the nation’s multibillion-rand broadband deployment, tasked with connecting clinics and health facilities, schools and educational institutions, police stations and government offices in the district municipalities, including Dr Kenneth Kaunda, in North West; Gert Sibande, in Mpumalanga; OR Tambo, in the Eastern Cape; Pixley ka Seme, in the Free State; Umgungundlovu and Umzinyathi, in KwaZulu-Natal; and Vhembe, in Limpopo.

The broadband roll-out was critical to government's efforts to modernise society and leverage information and communications technology to mitigate the challenges of inequality, poverty and unemployment.

The much-revised and long-awaited SA Connect aimed to fast-track South Africa’s broadband backbone and access infrastructure, particularly in rural and underserved areas, and meet the country’s vision of providing broadband for all by 2020.

From 2016 to 2020, the DTPS would start deploying broadband to the rest of the country, with the “business case” and funding solutions for the next phase to be finalised this year.

The plan envisaged access to universal average broadband speeds of 10 Mb/s to 100% of the population by 2030, while 80% were expected to access speeds of up to 100 Mb/s.

“If we get it right, we can transform services, such as education, healthcare and security,” Armstrong said.

Affordable access to broadband would also boost the country’s global competitiveness and enable active citizenship, while offering significant opportunities, despite the challenges of limited digital access, a digital divide and lack of digital readiness.

“The digital divide is very real between the digital haves and digital have-nots,” Armstrong said, explaining that it was an ecosystem challenge and not just a broadband infrastructure issue.

Over the past seven years, Internet access increased from 7% to 35%, signalling a change in the digital landscape.

Demand for broadband growth remained unabated, with overall broadband data consumption expected to grow fivefold by 2020 – without a fivefold increase in revenue.